Given that his hoofing skills are incomparable, Prabhu Deva would have done a movie like this sooner or later. Actually, he should have done it sooner. Because 'ABCD' is a dance movie that follows genre conventions so faithfully that there is no novelty in it. Cocky studio owner Jehnagir ( Kay Kay ) who is convinced attitude is everything and 'mediocrity sells'. Full-of-heart-and-talent Vishu ( Prabhu Deva), who believes everyone can dance, and the way to do it is 'dil se'. Two bunches of warring dancers. And one winner of a big-ticket competition.

Kay Kay plays the gelled-hair, arrogant dude to the hilt. His co-star Prabhu Deva has the most mobile pelvis, but is no actor. So isn't well-known choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who has been given a sizeable speaking part alongside Prabhu Deva. This casts a pall of drabness over 'ABCD'.

The dancing (and the dancers) should have made up for all of this. That's what dance movies are for. But the dancing is not spectacular. The dancers mostly look as if they've wandered off the many TV shows that revolve around similar themes. A few are given back stories but they are not interesting enough. Neither is the choreography. A couple of numbers are competent, but there's nothing heart-stopping or jaw-dropping. I saw the 3D version, which does amp up the film a bit, but it also darkens it because of those silly glasses.

This film had the potential, but it needed both sharper direction and dancing, to maximize it.

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